Douglas County Health Officer Dr. Thomas Marcellino has issued a “Stay at Home” order as the Douglas County community continues with efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19. Grocery stores, pharmacies, gas stations and healthcare facilities will remain open, as residents are ordered to remain home except for essential needs. You can view the full order, but here are some FAQs as a quicker guide:
Can I go outside, take a walk or a run, walk my dog, spend time in a park or on a trail? Can I visit a grandchild, check on an elderly parent or neighbor, handle my custody arrangements with my children per normal?
Yes.
All of those activities are allowed under Douglas County’s order if you follow the CDC guidance of social distancing. Use of parks and other public areas are permitted. However, use of playground equipment is discouraged.
Can I have friends over for dinner or have my child participate in a play date?
No.
As an essential worker, do I need an official letter or badge showing that I am allowed to go to work or be outside my home?
No.
Badges and letters are not needed. It’s not our intent at this time for people to be cited by law enforcement as they move around the county. We want to assume people’s good intention that they will follow the order and will be out of their homes for permitted reasons. We do encourage people to stay at home unless they need to perform an essential service or have a job with an essential service or business that cannot be done from home. We encourage everyone who can to work from home and encourage businesses to allow for that as much as possible.
Can I operate, work at or frequent a specific business, company or service during this stay at home order?
We would refer you to Douglas County’s Stay at Home order to see all of the services and activities that are deemed “essential.” If you see it there, it is exempt from the order these activities are allowed. We ask that you keep in mind that we want the public to stay at home unless they need an essential service performed or work at a place that performs essential services, and their work cannot be done from home.
Will grocery stores and liquor stores remain open?
Yes, as long as people do not congregate and stores adhere to the 10 people or less order and the CDC’s guidance on social distancing.
How does this affect the schools and universities? Will my student still be able to retrieve their items from the school?
Educational institutions — K-12 schools, colleges, and universities — will be allowed to continue operating in order to support the objective of distance learning and to support essential functions and schools may follow previously plans for students to retrieve items as long as they abide by the six foot social distancing guidelines from the CDC.